The once semi-derelict Isokon building, in Belsize Park in North
London, has now reopened, and following a 2.3 million renovation,
the flats are being snapped up. But in a unique adherence to social
ethos, some 25 of the 36 flats are earmarked by Camden for teachers
and social workers within the borough. The remaining flats are to
be sold to private buyers to help subsidise the 'key worker' flats
(there does not appear to be a rush from New Labour to be associated
with such longstanding tenets from the past).

Designed by the Canadian modernist Wells Coates in 1934, the apartment
block now looks as it once did. All this would be fully approved
of by Coates, and by the Bauhaus following which inspired the fundamentally
European Isokon building at the time. Jack Pritchard, a leading
engineer who became the developer, and his wife Molly lived in the
penthouse. Their son Jonathan never severed the connection, and
when they returned to live in the building, his wife Maria took
over the management. The Notting Hill Housing Group bought the building
from Camden Council, and commissioned Avanti Architects to undertake
the renovation, with the support of English Heritage. Research was
required into the fabric to find the original colours. It turns
out this was originally not white but pink, and was then painted
brown to deter the Luftwaffe. It is now back to pink. The homely
'Isobar' for residents was a sanctuary for such as Furniture Designer
and Architect Marcel Breuer - an inmate for several years. But this
alas had to be turned into three more flats for economy. There will
be an exhibition space, however, and the successful realisation
of this rescue operation makes it a model for such retrievals from
the clutches of the great housing boom developer market.